Potato-digger.



No. 868,006. PATBNTBD 00T'. 15, 1907.

v Bn Hl I POTATO BIGGER.l APPLIATION FILED JAN. 25. 1907.

2 sums-SHEET 1.

www l o@ @W y 0% Y PATENTED 00T. 15, 1907.' B. H. PUGH.

POTATO BIGGER. APrLIoATIor; FILED um sa. 1907. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2Iflu/wanton v w w n winvwmlliw R Fullml Ml @www M BURTON H. PUGH, OFTOPEKA, KANSAS.

POTATO-DIGGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 15, 1907.

Application filed January 25.1907. Serial No.1354,] 61.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, BURTON H. PUGH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Topeka, in the county of' Shawnee and State of Kansas, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Potato-Diggers, of which thefollowingis a specification. l

My invention pertains to potato diggers; and it has 'for its generalobject to provide a potato digger which is, at once, light and strong,easy of draft, and possessed of large capacity in proportion to itssize.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionand claims when the same are read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of my novel potato digger. Fig. 2 is a viewshowing in detail a portion of the endless apron for elevating andconveying the potatoes rearwardly and separating dirt therefrom. Fig. 3is a detail view showing the arrangement of the tines of the shakingdischarge device of the machine. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of themachine. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the apron in side elevation asproperly arranged relative to the several sprockets and idlers.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts in all of y the views ofthe drawings, referring to which:

A is the axle of the machine on which are loosely mounted supporting anddriving wheels a. On the said shaftAat points vadjacent to thewheelsaare loosely mounted spur gears b provided with internal ratchetteeth c for the engagement of spring backed pawls d carried by thewheels a, this in order to allow freedom of motion to the wheels aincident to backing or turning of the machine.

B B are side bars which together with fenders C thereon form the body ofthe machine. The said body is rested in the usual manner on the axleA-and is provided at its forward end with the ordinary shovel D fortaking potatoes from the ground.

E is the pole of the machine, and F is a truck fixed to the pole andhaving for its oflice to support the forward portion of the body. Thesaid truck F is provided at l its ends with caster wheels G tofacilitate turning of the machine at the ends of a field; and it isconnected with the side bars B of the body through the medium ofdrawbars H and beams I. The beams I are fixed to and extend upward andforward from the side bars B of the body and carry a segmental rack .land a lever K provided with a detent L for engaging the rack J, whilethe draw-bars H are pivoted at e to the beams I and are connectedthrough a link f with the lower and forward arm of the lever K. Thus itwill be apparent that the forward portion of the machine body may beraised and lowered and adjustably fixed at various heights as conditionsrequire.

M is the endless apron for receiving potatoes and dirt from the shovel Dand carrying the potatoes upward and rearward and separating dirt fromthe potatoes'while the latter are en route to the rear portion of themachine. The said apron is preferably of the specific construction bestshown in Fig. 2, and is carried around parallel idlers g at the forwardend of the body and around parallel sprocket gears h in the rearlportion of the body. It will also be seen that the lower stretch of theapron M passesover parallel idlers t' and parallel idlers j arranged inrear of the idlers t' while the upper stretch passes over eccentricvidlers lc, Fig. 4, this latter to assure the upper stretch of the beltbeing shaken or agitated with a view of assisting in the separation ofdirt from the potatoes.

The sprocket gears h are fixed on a transverse shaft l on which are alsofixed pinions m, intermeshed with the spur gears b, whereby it will beseen that the apron M is driven from the supporting and driving wheelsa.

N,. N are vertically swinging, bell-crank frames pivoted at 'a onopposite sides of the rear portion of the lmachine body, and havinghorizontal arms 'n3 and vertical arms n4, the vertical arms beingconnected together by a cross-bar N, Fig. 4. P is a seat-support fixedto and rising from the body. Q is a transverse shaft mounted on saidseat-support and having arms p at its ends, connected through links rwith' the vertical arms r of the bell-crank frames N. R is a segmentalrack fixed on the seat-support P, and S is a lever fixed on the shaft Qand having the usual detent to engage the rack R. By virtue of thisconstruction it will be seen that the bell-crank frames N` may be raisedand lowered and adjustably fixed in various positions in order toproperly position the shaking discharge'device of the machine, whichdischarge device is carried by said frames N as will nowbe explained.

T is the frame of the discharge device which is 'U- shaped and arrangedhorizontally as shown. This frame T is connected by swinging hangers swith the frames N, and is also connected through pitmen t with the crankportion of a shaft u, Fig. 4, which shaft u is provided with pinions 'uintermeshed with the spur gears b, whereby it will be seen that when themachine is in motion the frame T will be swung fore and aft. In additionto the frame T, the shaking discharge of the machine comprises tines Uwhich are fixed to and extend rearward from the forward or cross-bar ofthe frame. These tines U are arranged as best shown in Fig, {Jr-that isto say, the middle tines are inclined downward to a greater extent thanthe others and such others are inclined downward in a lesser degree asthey approach the side arms of the frame T. From this it follows thatthe chute formed by the tines is of V-shape in cross-section, andconsequently the potatoes received on the chute from the rear portion ofthe apron M will be deposited on the lpotato-digging machine is light inWeight and easy on the draft animals, and that it is possessed of largecapacity and may be readily adjusted to meet the requirements ofdifferent conditions ot soil.

The construction herein shown and desci'ibed constitutes the preierredembodiment of my invention, but it is obvious that in practice suchchanges in the form, construction and relative arrangement of parts maybe made as fairly fall Within the scope o the appended claims. A

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is:

The combination ln a potato digger, of a body, wheels supporting thebody, a shovel carried by the body, an endless apron carried by the bodyand arranged to receive potatoes from the shovel and convey the sameupward and rearward, a transverse crank shaft mounted in the body,gearingintermediate one o1 the supporting wheels and said crank shaft,vertically swinging bell-crank frames pivoted at the apices of theirangles to the body and each havingl a horizontal, rearwardly extendingarm and an upwardly extending vertical arm, a cross bar connectim,r thevertical arms of said frames, a seat support txed to and risingl fromthe body, a transverse shaft mounted on said seat support and havingarms at its ends, links connect ing said arms with the vertical arms ofthe hell-crank frames, means for adjustingr and adjustably tixing thesaid transverse shaft, a shaking discharge device arranged helow thebelLcrank frames and comprising a horizontal U shaped frame and tinesextendingrearward from the for ward cross-bar of said frame, swinginghangers connect ing the horizontal and vertical arms o1.' the bell-crankframes and the side bars oi' the frame of the shakingdevice, and pitmenconnecting the said frame and the said crank-shaft.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

BURTON ll. IUGH. Witnesses T. F. DonAN, BENNETT WHnnnnn.

